for William Ferris Chorale
SSAATTBB
Performances:
- William Ferris Chorale, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, Chicago, IL 05/20/2022
- William Ferris Chorale, Grace Episcopal Church, Chicago, IL 05/22/2022
Program Note:
Our breaths come in restless tides was written for the William Ferris Chorale and its conductor, Chris Windle as part of their concert series, Breath. The text is after the writings of Kahlil Gibran, Charles Olson, and Wendell Berry.
by your side, counting breaths
to ten, to twenty, to one hundred
beginning again
counting breaths, shallow and unsteady
to sit and be still, by your side,
to hear only the sound of your breath,
in between each breath, a prayer,
a memory when the air was thin
to hear only the sound of your breath
when it is no longer there
to sit and be still, by your side,
to hear only the sound of your breath
its newness becoming steady and unconditional
To steady the heart, by way of the breath
To find within, a line which to sing